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Now that the million or so copies of Marvel’s Star Wars #1 have hit the comic books shops, let’s see what people are saying:

IGN: “There’s an emphatic “Give the people what they want!” feel to this issue, and the creative team certainly delivers.”

iDigitalTimes: “…the best character work is Princess Leia…” (spoilers)

/film:”Not only does Vader make a great dramatic entrance but theres a very cool tense sequence that feels ripped out of Homeland (this is a strong compliment) and Vader’s response is nothing short of bad ass.”

Nerdist: “Writer Jason Aaron perfectly captures the pacing, action, and humor of the original Star Wars in a way that a lot of the comics haven’t for a long time it seems.”

Jedi News: “The true test of any comic script is does it leave you longing for more, and I can’t imagine anyone reading this issue and not being absolutely compelled to pick up issue #2.”

Tosche Station: 4/5 – “At times, it was difficult to NOT hear the actors’ voices inside my head reading the lines.”

Our friends at Jedi-bibliothek.de have discovered two more Marvel reprints of Dark Horse material in the 2015 pipeline.

In their Star Wars Legends Epic Collection series, we have The New Republic Volume 1 coming out on May 26, containing Mara Jade: By the Emperor’s Hand, Shadows of the Empire: Evolution, The Jabba Tape, Boba Fett: Twin Engines of Destruction, and material from Star Wars Tales 1, 3-5, 10, 14-15, 20, 22. The Old Republic Volume 1 collects issues 0-18 of John Jackson Miller’s Knights of the Old Republic and comes out June 16. Interesting that they are calling it simply The Old Republic – will future volumes contain some of the Tales of the Jedi comics after they finish collecting Knights of the Old Republic?

With LucasArts’ X-Wing now 21 years old, it’s exciting to see this franchise come back around as these space simulator games were top notch back then, and probably still hold up well today. Most of my freshman year of college was enjoyed with this game, and sophomore year eaten up with TIE Fighter. Could this mean that the later space sims in the series, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and X-Wing Alliance, be up for release as well?

As for Knights of the Old Republic, calling this a classic makes me feel old – but it has been 11 years since the game first came out, and it remains one of the best stories set in the galaxy far, far away.

Yowie and I got our hands on a copy of Imperial Handbook: A Commander’s Guide and we share the awesomeness of opening up the deluxe version, with its electronic protective case and accessories. The look and feel of this book is top-notch, with annotations by the various Rebels written in the margins, and some luxurious artwork. The Imperial Handbook, like its predecessors, The Jedi Path, Book of Sith, and The Bounty Hunter Code, is full of great detail on the organization of the Empire’s military. With sections about the army, navy, and stormtrooper corps as well as chapters on Imperial doctrine, there’s plenty of stuff for a fan of the Empire to learn, and some good comments from various Rebels about the Empire (including some snark from Han Solo). Fans of the Empire should enjoy this one, even if it is considered Legends.

Imperial Handbook is written with great detail and some awesome illustrations and schematics. There’s some propaganda style artwork as well as detailed drawings of Imperial war machines. If you’ve ever wondered what the rank badges are in the Imperial Navy, about the different training academies for stormtroopers, what General Madine recalled from his days as an Imperial, or how the Emperor inspired his command staff, this book is for you!

Grade: +

An advance copy of this book was provided by Becker & Mayer! for review.

Looking forward to Dan Wallace’s Imperial Handbook? We’ve got an inside preview at one of the pages from the upcoming book from Becker & Mayer. As you can tell from the image, we’ve got a section by Baron Fel on the various experimental TIE fighters, with notes from Luke Skywalker, Wedge Antilles, and Crix Madine.

Chopper, Artoo and Threepio take the spotlight in the latest Star Wars Rebels promo video, ‘Droids’. From earlier trailers, we already knew that R2-D2 and C-3PO would be making an appearance in Rebels, but this seems to hint at a larger role in an episode arc. Star Wars Underworld guesses that these scenes are from the second episode, ‘Droids in Distress.’

On sale today, A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller is the first novel that is part of the Lucasfilm Story Group approved timeline. Set in the dark times between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, and several years before the upcoming Rebels cartoon, it’s a tale of how two of the show’s main characters, Hera and Kanan, first encounter each other and eventually decide to team up. As someone excited by Rebels, I enjoyed the novel and found it interesting to see the characters before they united for a common cause.

Miller brings his skills in combining likable characters with clashing viewpoints, in a story setting that he has mastered before in Kenobi and Knight Errant: a Jedi alone in hostile territory. Only this time, the Jedi’s not interested in being a Jedi, or even be on the hero’s path at all – while someone else is sorting out what type of people are and aren’t needed for a rebellion to the Empire’s rule. And as with Knight Errant and Lost Tribe of the Sith series, where various Sith philosophies were being forged and tested against each other, the villain, Count Vidian, has his own philosophy being pushed to the extreme, and we witness it in practice.

Comic review:Legacy #18 wraps up the conflict between the Imperial Knights and the Sith and Darth Wredd, with Ania Solo and her friends caught up in the middle. Jawajames gives it a big thumbs-up for staying true to the characters and giving us a big epic Star Wars battle.

And if you missed it last week, Jawajames also reviewed Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir #4, the finale of this storyline — this would have been a fantastic episode arc of The Clone Wars, and it’s great to see it in comic form.